Rising energy costs have been a top news agenda item for several weeks now. Families and businesses across the UK are bracing themselves for increases in their fuel bills. People are tightening their belts around other expenditures in anticipation. For many, reduced spending power for holidays and foreign trips results in greater interest in taking trips away in leisure vehicles and marine craft instead. This is where flexible solar panels can become something of a game-changer. Not only do they allow travellers to generate their own power on the move, but they can also reduce a household’s reliance on the National Grid and help mitigate against the large fuel bills that are predicted to arrive in the Spring.
The technology behind solar photovoltaic panels has become increasingly sophisticated to the extent that several different types and configurations of solar panels exist, including flexible solar panels designed to generate electricity on the move. These versatile, portable panels are the ideal answer for people looking for ways to live more sustainably while using their boat, motorhome, caravan or campervan.
Why should you opt for flexible solar panels?
Flexible solar panels offer a lightweight, convenient way to generate electricity and move towards a more sustainable way to provide power away from home. Other benefits include the following:
· They are designed to be light with a wafer-thin backing to prevent excess weight compromising a leisure vehicle’s performance.
· The flexible solar panels bend to fit the shape of the roof or flat surface on which they are installed.
· The panels can be unrolled and tied to a yacht or boat’s boom to harness the sun’s energy while out on the water.
· Thanks to the technology used, the panels can work in low light conditions as well as direct, bright sunshine.
· Additionally, flexible solar panels are made from tough, durable materials that can withstand difficult weather conditions and many miles on the open road or water.
· Best of all, they offer excellent efficiency to produce optimum amounts of power.
Customisation options also include folding designs for more accessible transportation and accessorising extension cables, battery chargers, and storage for protection en route. They are straightforward to install. However, there is plenty of advice and support available to ensure that they work in the way that you need them to, wherever you are at the time. For example, they can be rolled for easy transportation by bicycle or kayak. This is made possible by the amorphous technologies used to construct the panels instead of the more rigid, crystalline method that most standard solar panels employ.
On average, a smaller flexible solar panel will provide electricity to keep your leisure vehicle, or marine craft lit and your phones and devices charged. Larger versions offer a greater energy output, enabling the powering of microwaves, kettles, hairdryers and fridges. All essential things make a trip away from home more luxurious and fun.
Meanwhile, the biggest flexible solar panel configurations offer the capacity to live off-grid for longer. This can make more extreme travelling, such as wild camping, more of a possibility for the modern adventure-seeker. As energy prices continue to rise, the option could become more and more attractive to people looking to control what they spend on heat, light and power.
Other uses for flexible solar panels
Of course, flexible solar panels can also be used in the main home or commercial premises. They can be a temporary energy generating solution while permanent panels are ordered and installed. Their flexibility enables them to be installed in places where larger, rigid alternatives are unable to fit, such as non-standard rooftops, sheds and outhouses. While they don’t always last as long as rigid panels, they still offer a reasonable length of useful life and generate good results in producing electricity.
The self-cleaning, easy maintenance makes flexible solar panels convenient for almost any location and situation. They also provide a great introduction to solar power for families interested in switching to renewable energy and a more sustainable lifestyle but want to test the waters with a smaller system first. Yet, despite their smaller size, the panels can still offer high performance with effective solar energy harnessing and converting into usable electricity. Often, the panels are installed simply by peeling off the backing sheet and sticking them in place using the adhesive already included on the reverse side.